When Two Blogs Collide.....

It's always fun to make new friends through blogging, but the acid test is when you actually meet them in person and still get on like a house on fire. Today we were visited by Midge from Soggibottom, along with Tony and Amie soto blossom, all the way from Devon. Midge won the giveaway of my 101st potato painting and decided she wanted to combine a visit to her family in a nearby town with picking up her prize in person.

We had a lovely visit but it was far too short. The most exciting part of the afternoon for me was seeing my dog meet Amie in his own house.........and do nothing. Clovis is a lovely fellow but he does (did!) have one quite worrying fault and that was his unpredictability when faced with other dogs, especially new ones. In the past I have had to resort to all sorts of ruses to avoid confrontations - changing my planned walk if I saw another dog on the horizon, crossing the road while my dog growled and struggled to get at another dog, and if all else failed, getting an apology ready in case the worst happened. Trips to the vet were a nightmare if there happened to be another dog in the waiting room, and the more it happened the more worried I got - therefore making the problem even worse as Clovis sensed my anxiety.

However, at Christmas I was given Cesar Millan's book (the Dog Whisperer) which was a bit of a revelation. I've also been watching the tv programmes avidly and the more I saw and read, the more I realised that I was probably a major cause of my dog's problem. So to cut a long story short, since our other dog died after Christmas, I have been training Clovis - and myself - intensively. It has been working and this weekend has been incredible - yesterday we managed to walk in the same field as three small dogs (one of which he has had a go at in the past) and my dog just ignored them. Today he allowed a 'strange' dog into his home territory and after a brief sniff, just curled up on the sofa. I think he has definitely been 'rehabilitated' and while I will remain vigilent, I think the worst is over. Thank you Midge so much for allowing the lovely Amie to be part of an experiment!


Midge also brought us some fab presents from Devon - three baby Cornish palms, a pound (a POUND!) of clotted cream and shells fresh from the beach. Stacie and I have already planned to make a windchime thingy from the shells, and I think we'll have to get some scones in tomorrow to help that cream get eaten - yum!

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of Midge & I together - they are on her camera. I'm sure they will appear on her blog this week - after she has recovered from her excursion into deepest, darkest Hampshire!